Protesters ‘stand in solidarity’ across state

Connecticut continues to rally in response to the death of George Floyd

Hundreds took to the streets — and a few protesters were even laying across a bridge — as demonstrations continued Tuesday in Connecticut in response to the death of George Floyd.

Several protesters stopped traffic during the late afternoon when they were laying across the Arrigoni Bridge between Portland and Middletown. In Wilton, a march was canceled, but many gathered for a vigil outside a church. Others took to the streets in Hamden, Fairfield and the rural Litchfield County community of Washington.

“I think having a moment to silently honor the movement and stand in solidarity with black lives will be very important in a town like Washington that is overwhelmingly white and affluent,” said Sophie Nickoll, the event’s organizer. “I am aware that I am a white woman with a lot of privilege helping to organize this and it is not my story to tell or my fight to lead — just support.”

Because the town’s population is mostly white, those who attended were asked to show their support silently and maintain a distance of 6 feet from each other due to the coronavirus health crisis, according to Nickoll.

In Fairfield, crowds of protesters marched through downtown to chants of “black lives matter,” “hands up, don’t shoot,” and “I can’t breathe.”

The phrases became rallying cries in the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York City — both unarmed black men killed by police in 2014.

The demonstrations occur amid national unrest following the Memorial Day death of Floyd, an African American man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis.

Bystanders filmed Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kneeling on the back of Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes while the man, in handcuffs and on the ground, begged for air. Authorities have charged Chauvin with with thirddegree murder and manslaughter.

In Wilton, plans for a march beginning at the train station off Route 7 were scrubbed and replaced with a socially-distanced gathering at Our Lady of Fatima church.

A protest is also planned for noon Wednesday in Danbury, where demonstrators say they will march in a loop from the library passing the police station.

The Connecticut Bar Association, the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and the Connecticut AFL-CIO joined a growing chorus of Connecticut police chiefs and law enforcement agencies denouncing Floyd’s death in police custody.

“We condemn the death of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement by the four Minneapolis police officers,” the CCDLA said in a statement. “We condemn the deaths of the hundreds of people of color who have been unjustly killed by police over the last decade.”

Sal Luciano, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, said Floyd’s death at the hands of police “is a reminder that racism plays an insidious role in the daily lives of all working people of color. This is a labor issue because it is a workplace issue. It is also a community issue and unions are part of the community.”

The comments came after state police released a forceful statement Monday, saying they were “disgusted” by the circumstances of his death.

“If you wear a badge and aren’t appalled by that what you saw, please turn it in and find a new profession; we don’t need you,” the state police said.

Demonstrations in Connecticut have so far avoided the violent clashes between protesters and police that have occurred in major cities throughout the U.S.

Police in Bridgeport and New Haven used pepper spray as protesters attempted to enter headquarters over the weekend.